tell me What makes a traitor?
by Shikyotigress1793
Summary: Is it leaving your village? If so, she is one. If it's something more, then Konaha will have to decide for itself.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

For any people that read this the first time, I changed Shadow Hawk's name and added more to the story.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

23 years before the start of the show:

Sakumo Hatake was returning from a mission when he heard crying in some bushes by the side of the road. His instincts were telling him to just ignore the sound, after all, it might be a trap, but he decided to check it out anyway.

He went around the bushes and was extremely surprised at what he found. There was a young girl, about 3, curled up next to two bodies. One was a huge wolf and the other was a man. Both were dead. But what surprised him the most was the girl. She had black hair, and wolf ears and a tail. Sakumo figured that she was a half-demon. Which meant that the wolf either was the man's summon or her mother. Either way, Sakumo didn't think that he should leave the girl there. There were several problems with that train of thought. First, he didn't think that the villagers would take too kindly to a half-demon taking up residence in Konoha. And second, even if they did or they managed to disguise it, he couldn't take care of her. He had enough trouble dealing with his 3 year old son, Kakashi.

His train of thought was interrupted by a voice. "Um… Who are you?"

Sakumo looked down at the girl. She was staring at him with wide eyes. "Sir... um...who are you?" She had obviously been crying, and had a stuffed nose.

Sakumo smiled down at her. "Don't worry. I won't hurt you. I'm a friend. Just tell me what happened and I'll see what I can do to help you. What's your name?"

She sniffed. "Shadotaka (1). Who are you, sir?"

"Sakumo Hatake. How old are you?"

"3. Why do you want to know?"

"Just asking. No need to get defensive. You know, I have a son that's your age. What village are you from?" Sakumo asked.

"Huh?"

"You know. Where's your home?"

"I...i don't know, Hatake-san. We kept moving."

"Do you have any relatives?"

"I don't think so, Hatake-san."

"Hmm." Sakumo thought for a minute. "Come with me."

He took her hand. "Um... Hatake-san, where are we going? And what about my parents?" Shadotaka started crying again.

"Uhhh." Sakumo thought. He figured that like ninja, a demon's body would hold valuable clues about techniques medicines and other things unique to their home village. So he should destroy or bury the bodies. They didn't have enough time to bury them so he decided to do the next best thing.

"Hold on a minute." Sakumo started making hand signs. "Fire style, fireball jutsu!" He shot the fireball at her parent's bodies, cremating them. Shadotaka just stared, slightly afraid of the sight of her parents' bodies burning.

"Wow. Could you teach me how to do that, Hatake-san?"

"I can't, but there's an academy where we're going, so if you want to, you could enroll. we're going to my village, Konoha. We'll get going in one minute. I just have to inform the Hokage about you."

"Huh? What's a Ho-ka-ge?"

"That's the leader of my village." Sakumo bulled a scroll out of his vest, bit his thumb and summoned a large pigeon (2). He wrote a note and gave it and some scrolls to the bird and told it to give them to the Hokage. The bird nodded and took off.

"How did you do that!"

"It's called summoning."

"Does your thumb hurt?" Shadotaka looked at the bite mark with interest and concern.

"Not really, it just stings. I'm kinda used to it. I've had worse."

"But it's still bleeding. Shouldn't we do something about it?"

"No, it's fine. Come on, let's go. The Hokage is expecting us soon." Sakumo took her hand and lead her off towards the place that would be her home for the next 9 years.

**A few weeks later**

"So you found her by the bodies of what you suspect were her parents and you decided to take her here. Am I right?" The Hokage asked, sitting at his desk.

"That is right, Lord Hokage." Sakumo replied.

"Her name is Shadotaka, right? Where is she?"

"She's playing with Kakashi. If you didn't mind, I asked Arashi (3) to watch them to make sure that they don't get into any trouble."

"It's OK. So you don't think that she poses any threat to Konoha."

"That's right, Hokage-sama. The only problem is going to be hiding her ears and tail."

"Well, since she can't use henge, then she can just wear a hat and hid her tail as a belt. I now put you in charge of Shadotaka."

"What! I'm sorry, but I can't take care of her. I already have my hands full with Kakashi; I don't think I could take care of another child."

**Meanwhile**

"Hihi! I'm Kakashi Hatake. What's your name? Where are you from? Why are you here? Are your ears and tail real? Why do you have them? Are they a Kekkei Genkai? Are you going to the Acadamy? I'm starting soon! How long are you going to be here? Will you be my friend?"

Shadotaka just sat there, dazed by all the questions the silver-haired kid was asking her, and wondering why he was turning blue.

"Um, Kakashi, I know you're excited, but shouldn't you let her answer your questions before you ask any more?" Arashi asked, trying not to laugh.

"Um, mebbe." Kakashi responded, looking at the ceiling.

"Umm… I'm Shadotaka. I'll be your friend! What's this place like?"

"Oh! Konoha is really cool!" He grabbed her arm and headed for the door.

"Kakashi, where are you going?" Arashi asked.

"I'm gonna show Shadotaka around. Duh." He headed towards the door.

"Thanks, Kakashi. Are we going anywhere special?"

"Nope"

After they left, Sakumo and the Third came into the room. Arashi looked like the was taking a nap.

"Arashi, where are they?" a worried Sakumo asked.

"Don't worry, I'm not that irresponsible. Kakashi went to show Shadotaka around. So who's going to take care of her? 'Cause Kakashi and her seemed really cute together." Arashi told them, straightening up.

"I am." Sakumo said. "I hope I do a good job. Ever since Hikari died…"

"Hey, man, don't beat yourself up over it. I think you're doing a great job raising Kakashi and I think that both of them will grow up to be great ninjas and respected members of Konoha." Arashi said.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(1)- Means Shadow Hawk

(2)-ninja that were going to collect very important information for the war could all summon homing pigeons in case they couldn't get home in time or whatever.

(3) The name I'm using for the Fourth Hokage

Sorry if the three year olds don't sound like three year olds. I don't have any three-year-olds around to ask how they would respond. There will be some time skips in the next chapter or so. Please read and review!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Metallica

23 years later, Shadotaka has left Konoha, several people have died and life goes on as normal. This takes the place of the mission to wave

A black figure jumped through the trees. _Damn! I have to find them before they cause damage. At least I have a lead. I just have to cut them off before they hit any villages. Gotta hurry!_

---------------------------------

A pack of figures looked around, and then sniffed. Their enemy was soon approaching. They should run and find prey before their enemy caught up with it.

---------------------------------

"Come on, Kakashi-sensei! Hurry up! I wanna go out of the village for the first time" Naruto whined. He and the rest of team 7 were starting out on mission to protect a merchant's caravan. Kakashi, like usual, was late. Team 7 was on the bridge waiting when Kakashi _poofed _onto the bridge. Naruto was so surprised that he fell into the river.

"YOU'RE LATE!!!" Sakura and Naruto yelled.

"I'm sorry. Ya'see, I got attacked by a bunch of giant rabid mosquitoes." Kakashi said in his laid back way.

"Liar!!!" Sakura and Naruto yelled. _Rabid mosquitoes, yeah right. What does he think we are, a bunch of morons. _Inner Sakura yelled

"Ok. Let's start this mission." Kakashi muttered

They headed out of the village.

--------------------------------

_Shit!_ The dark hooded figure thought._ I lost all of them! _

---------------------------------

"This is so cool!" Naruto yelled as he sprinted down the path.

"What is, Naruto?! We've only been out of the village for ten minutes. We haven't seen anything!" Sakura shouted.

"So? I've never been out of the village before, so this is so cool! I mean, we get to see new things and go new places and everything! This is great!" Naruto argued.

"Yes," the merchant agreed, "that is exactly why I became a traveler." And he burst into song, singing horribly off-key. "Rover, wanderer, Nomad, vagabond. Call me what you will. But I'll take my time anywhere, Free to speak my mind anywhere, and I'll redefine anywhere. Anywhere I roam, where I lay my head is home. And the earth becomes my throne, I adapt to the unknown, under wandering stars I've grown, by myself but not alone, I ask no one.(1)"

_How do you sing metal off-key!?!? It's barely on-key to begin with!_ Sakura thought, covering her ears with her hands.

_Why am I stuck here again? _Kakashi thought. _Oh, yeah. Naruto insisted on a C-ranked mission and made such a fuss that the Hokage decided to give this team its first C-ranked. Which explains why I'm now stuck babysitting a couple of brats and a merchant who can't sing to save his life. Oh, well. I still have my book._ Kakashi pulled said book out of his pouch.

"You shouldn't read porn in front of children," The merchant had stopped singing and was glaring at Kakashi's book like he could light it on fire. "You should put that away, I have some nice books in my trunk."

"No thanks," Kakashi moved behind the group, to act as the rear guard.

--------------------------------

They stopped for camp that night in an inn. The older couple that served there was very friendly, asking what they were doing in that part of the country and where they were going. There were no other customers.

"I'm headed to Yokahama village in Swamp country. I haven't been there, but I've heard it's a beautiful country," the merchant told them and Kakashi winced slightly._ That is a little more information then I wanted released, but what can you do?_

"Well, you should really be careful. Strange things have been happening around there for years. And avoid the forest, Shimori (2), around there," the innkeeper told them.

"Why should we avoid the forest?" Kakashi asked. _Shimori? That's not a good sign._

"Because," the innkeeper's wife said, "people have been know to go in there and never return. It's filled with monsters, demons and other horrors of the night."

_So the only basis for avoiding that forest is myths surrounding this place. I was hoping for some reliable info, but what can you expect?_

"We should go there to train!!" Naruto shouted, jumping up and knocking over his tea in the process.

"Oh, yeah!" said the innkeeper, coming back with a towel, "I forgot another reason to avoid the forest. It's pitch black and no light shows, none at all. Iasn't that so weird? People think that the forest is cursed."

"Cursed?" Sakura asked. "How? And by what?"

"Well, legend says that ninjas from somewhere chased a demon from there borders. They cornered it, wounded, but before they could kill it, it cursed them. They're bodies mutated and they became horrible monsters, filled with bloodlust. They all attacked the demon, and all perished in the insuing fight. The darkness of the forest is said to be a result of the curse. Some people think that the darkness was created by the demon to cloak a fabulous treasure the it hid there. Others think that there is a powerful energy source in the forest that doesn't want to be found, so it cloaks itself in darkness. Some think that if the demon had gotten to it, it would have destroyed everything in a 20 mile radious."

"Hm…"

"Very… um… interesting" _Interesting, My ass! That is so fake!_ Inner Sakura yelled

"Cool!!! We should soo totally go there to check that place out. Would that be an interesting adventure or what?!"

"What kind of power?" Sasuke asked suddenly.

"Well, some think it's an orb. Others think that it's a magnificent weapon. Some think it's a person. No one knows."

---------------------------------

They resumed traveling the next day.

"These trees are really pretty," Sakura said as they walked along the path. "So what do you think about the whole Shimori thing? Do you think it's real, or what?"

"It sounds pretty cool, but I doubt it's true," Kakashi said. "Even so, I do NOT want anyone going there unless it is absolutely nessecary. Got it, Naruto?"

"Sure, Kakshi-sensei, but why?" Naruto asked, sounding disappointed.

"Because, even though the myths probably aren't true, there are still going to be some dangers in the forest that were the base of the myths."

"So?" he asked.

Kakashi sighed. "Just don't go in there, OK?"

"Well then, why didn't you say so?"

-----------------------------------

A pack ran through the woods toward Team 7's campsite. A full moon peaked over the trees.

---------------------------------

Team 7's mission was almost over. Only two more days of traveling and they could head home. Naruto was disappointed because there hadn't been any fighting. Everyone had started to relax. Kakashi, though he looked half asleep like always, was even more alert then normal. _I don't like this. It's too quiet. _

---------------------------------

_Thank Kami-sama! I found them. _The black-hooded figure stopped and appeared to sniff the air. _Shit! The whole group's headed toward a campsite. I've got to go warn them. I hope I'm not too late._

---------------------------------

That night, for some unknown reason, Kakashi decided to have Team 7 stand guard.

"Kakashi-sensei! We're almost there! Why do we have to have to guard?" Naruto whined.

"I hate to say it, but I think Naruto's right. Why do we need guards?" Sakura asked._ I can't believe it! I just agreed with Naruto! The world's coming to an end!!!!!_ Yelled inner Sakura.

"We need to always be on guard, and I don't think that we'll ha-" Kakashi said, surprised.

"But Kakashi-sensei! We haven't been on guard the rest of the trip. So why now?" Sakura interrupted. She looked seriously annoyed. _He's probably telling us to do this just to keep us busy._

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, I don't think that you'll have any trouble, so I'm letting you be on guard. And you can't complain, I was on guard for most of the trip." Kakashi went back to reading his book.

---------------------------------

_I'm almost there. _The hooded ninja thought as the figure ran through the trees. _This scent, it smells so…familiar. _

---------------------------------

The pack ran towards the glow from a dying fire. They smelled prey. Tonight they would feast. Tonight the blood would flow. Tonight they would leave their mark. All creatures must die.

---------------------------------

The fire had burned low. Naruto was asleep on guard. Kakashi was patrolling the opposite side of the clearing. All was quiet. No one noticed the dark shapes slinking into the clearing.

(1)-Wherever I may roam-Metallica

(2)-literally "Death forest"


End file.
